Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K414; Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K467; Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K488

COMPOSERS: Mozart
LABELS: NAIVE
WORKS: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K414; Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K467; Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K488
PERFORMER: Fazil Say (piano); Zürich CO/Howard Griffiths
CATALOGUE NO: V 4992

Curiously enough, for someone who is a composer as well as a pianist, Fazil Say is at his least satisfactory in the cadenzas of these concertos. He plays Mozart’s own for the two A major works in rather straitlaced and unimaginative fashion – but perhaps that’s preferable to the cadenzas he provides in the C major Concerto, K467, for which Mozart’s haven’t survived. In the first movement, Say launches into a piece of slapstick comedy that’s curiously at odds with the tone of the piece as a whole; and while his cadenza for the final rondo charmingly transforms one of its themes into the sound of a carillon, the remainder is distinctly unadventurous. The performances themselves are full of imaginative touches, greatly helped by the stylish orchestral playing under Howard Griffiths. Say finds just the right atmosphere of quiet resignation for the Andante of K414, and he’s admirably lively in the finale of the later A major Concerto, K488. However, he’s rather heavy at times in the outer movements of K414, and the concluding rondo of K467 is a little sedate for a piece with the unusually quick marking of ‘Allegro vivace assai’. If you want to hear how sparkling the rondo can sound, try Alfred Brendel, who also finds greater depth in the tragic siciliano that forms the slow movement of K488. For K414 my performance of choice remains the dazzling version by Evgeny Kissin. Good recorded sound, though Say’s sing-along contribution may disturb some listeners. Misha Donat